The  Clay  Products  of  New  Jersey 
At  the  Present  Time 


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Newark  Museum  Association 


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UNIVERSITY  OF 
ILLINOIS  LIBRARY 
AT  URBAIMA-CHAMPAIGN 
BOOKSTACKS 


The 

Clay  Products  of  New  Jersey 

At  the  Present  Time 


An  Exhibition 

in  the  Public  Library  Building 
February  1  to  March  20 
1915 


Newark,  N.  J. 

The  Newark  Museum  Association 
1915 


Contents 


Page 

Brick  . 5 

Methods  of  Making .  ....  6 

Hollow  Ware  and  Fireproofing .  .  7 

Pipes  and  Conduits . . 8 

Story  of  Pottery .  . . . . . .  8 

Contents  of  Exhibition  Cases .  9 

Tiles,  Floor  and  Wall . 11 

New  Jersey  Tile  Making . 12 

Terra  Cotta . 13 

Decorative  Ware  and  Table  Ware .  15 

Refractories . 16 

Crucibles  . 18 

Sanitary  Ware . 18 

Use  of  Clay  in  Education. .  19 

Vocational  Education  of  Potters . .  20 


NOTE 

The  Catalog  of  the  Pottery  and  Porcelain  made  in  New 
Jersey  before  1876  is  published  in  a  separate  pamphlet  and  is 
sold,  at  twenty-five  cents. 

This  exhibition  is  the  first  of  a  series  which  the  Museum 
hopes  to  hold,  on  the  more  important  local  industries.  The 
one  for  next  winter  will  probably  be  on  leather  and  all  tilings 
made  of  leather. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/clayproductsofneOOnewa 


The  Clay  Products  of  New  Jersey 


BRICK 

“Here  lie  the  remains  of  James  Pady,  brickmaker,  in  hope 
that  his  clay  will  be  remoulded  in  a  workmanlike  manner,  far 
superior  to  his  former  perishable  materials.’ ’  Epitaph  from 
Addiscombe  Church-yard.  Devonshire,  Eng. 

The  most  ancient  records  mention  bricks.  The  walls  of 
Babylon  were  made  of  burnt  brick  over  6,000  years  ago.  The 
brick  in.  the  baths  of  Titus  proved  more  durable  than  the 
stones  of  the  Colosseum. 

The  first  brick  buildings  in  the  United  States  were  built 
under  Wouter  Van  Twiller,  in  Manhattan,  of  bricks  from 
Amsterdam.  Until  the  timber  supply  of  the  country  began  to 
fail,  the  development  of  forested  lands  by  the  railroads  caused 
sawmills  to  multiply  and  from  them  came  a  cheap  light  ma¬ 
terial  for  American  houses.  In  cities  losses  from  fires  soon 
led  to  greater  use  of  bricks. 

Then  came  steel  for  skeletons  of  buildings,  the  walls  being 
only  screens  fastened  to  this  frame.  In  these  buildings  clay 
products  are  frequently  used  in  the  form  of  hollow  ware  walls 
and  terra  cotta  trimming. 

Yet  brick  making  still  holds  its  own.  In  1909  the  value  of 
the  brick  and  tile  made  in  New  Jersey  was  over  four  million 
dollars. 

In  common  brick  there  is  little  attention  paid  to  the  color 
or  the  smoothness  of  the  surface  or  the  sharpness  of  the  edge. 
Pressed  brick  are  so  called  because  after  molding  the  brick 
are  pressed  to  give  sharp  edges,  and  smooth  surfaces.  En¬ 
amel  brick  have  a  coating  of  opaque  material.  Glazed  brick 
are  coated  with  a  transparent  glaze. 

Common  brick  are  made  of  easily-molded  clays  that  burn 
hard  at  a  low  temperature  and  do  not  often  warp  or  crack. 
Brick  clays  generally  burn  red. 


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Newark  Museum  Association 


Pressed,  enameled  and  glazed  brick  need  a  better  quality  of 
clay.  It  must  burn  to  a  uniform  color,  it  must  not  warp  or 
split  and  it  must  become  hard  at  a  moderate  heat. 

Paving  brick  can  be  made  of  shale  or  clay  that  vitrifies  well. 

Methods 

The  clay  is  prepared  by  weathering  it,  crushing  hard  clay 
or  shale,  rolling  dry  clay  containing  pebbles,  or  tempering 
wet  clays  by  soaking  and  mixing. 

It  is  sometimes  cast  in  wooden  molds,  either  by  hand,  or  by 
a  machine  which  presses  the  soft  clay  into  the  mold.  The 
open  surface  is  then  smoothed  off  with  a  scraper. 

Sometimes  it  is  forced  through  a  die  in  the  form  of  a  square 
bar,  and  is  cut  into  bricks  as  it  comes  out  from  the  die. 

Dry,  or  nearly  dry,  powdered  clay  is  pressed  into  hot  steel 
molds.  This  makes  a  brick  with  sharp  edges  and  smooth 
faces. 

The  bricks  often  are  dried  by  artificial  heat.  They  are  then 
burned  in  kilns,  varying  from  temporary  structures  which  are 
torn  down  after  each  lot  of  brick  is  burned,  to  complicated, 
permanent  buildings.  In  the  kiln  the  brick  are  loosely 
stacked,  and  hot  air  is  passed  either  up  through  the  brick  and 
out  through  openings  in  the  top,  or  by  flues  to  the  top  and 
down  through  the  brick  to  the  bottom. 

The  New  Jersey  Co.,  17  Battery  Place,  New  York  and  Mata- 
wan,  N.  J.  Makers  of  re-pressed  building  brick,  the  “Taylor” 
Brick.  This  brick  -was  used  in  the  Woolworth  and  Equitable 
buildings,  the  Biltmore  Hotel  and  the  Grand  Central  station. 
New  York.  Also  in  the  Bamberger  store,  Newark. 

American  Enameled  Brick  and  Tile  Co.,  South  River,  N.  J. 
Makers  of  enameled  brick,  for  exterior  and  interior  use. 

Sayre  and  Fisher  Co.,  261  Broadway,  New  York  and  Sayre- 
ville,  N.  J.  Makers  of  enamel,  porcelain,  face,  re-pressed  red, 
and  fire  brick  in  a  variety  of  styles  and  shapes  both  by  hand 
and  by  machine.  The  output  is  “one  million  per  day.” 


New  Jersey  Clay  Products 


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Walter  K.  Watson,  Yorktown,  N.  J.  Makers  of  common 
brick  and  drain  tile. 

New  York  Clay  Products  Company,  Inc.,  1  Madison  Ave., 
New  York,  and  Sayreville,  N.  J.  Manufacture  building  blocks, 
flue  linings,  interlinking  and  building  blocks.  Annual  pro¬ 
duction  40,000-50,000  tons. 

HOLLOW  WARE  AND  FIREPROOFING 

There  are  many  forms  of  hollow  bricks  and  blocks,  gen¬ 
erally  with  cross  partitions.  The  blocks  are  light  and  strong. 
The  hollow  spaces  serve  as  nonconductors  of  heat. 

These  hollow  blocks  can  be  used  for  foundations,  in  which 
case  they  are  vitrified  or  finished  with  a  salt  glaze  to  prevent 
absorption  of  moisture.  They  are  used  for  floor  arches,  par¬ 
titions,  flue  linings  and  for  surrounding  columns,  beams  and 
girders  in  fireproof  buildings. 

They  are  made  of  brick  clay,  or,  if  used  for  fireproofing,  of 
semi-fire  clay.  For  this  purpose  they  must  be  able  to  resist 
great  heat  and  then  streams  of  cold  water  without  splitting 
or  cracking. 

Terra  cotta  lumber  is  the  name  applied  to  bricks  made  of 
clay  and  sawdust.  The  wood  burns  out  when  these  bricks  are 
fired,  leaving  the  material  so  porous  that  nails  can  be  driven 
into  it. 

Much  of  the  clay  in  New  Jersey  can  not  be  used  for  the 
finer  kinds  of  ware,  but  is  suitable  for  ordinary  hollow  ware 
and  terra  cotta  lumber,  and  when  mixed  with  fire  clay,  for 
fireproofing.  Much  of  this  is  near  tide  water,  and  can  easily 
be  shipped.  In  1878,  according  to  a  state  report,  Henry 
Maurer  of  Perth  Amboy  was  making  a  little  of  this  ware. 
The  firms  exhibiting  in  this  museum  at  present  produce  hun¬ 
dreds  of  thousands  of  tons  of  hollow  ware  annually. 

National  Fireproofing  Company,  Flatiron  Building,  New 
York,  Fulton  Street,  Pittsburg  and  Perth  Amboy,  Lorillard. 
Keasby,  Woodbridge,  Port  Murray  and  Keyport.  New  Jersey. 


Newark  Museum  Association 


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Makers  of  hollow  tile  for  fireproofing,  house  construction,  con¬ 
duits  and  brick.  Annual  production  in  New  Jersej^  is  210,000 
tons. 

Crescent  Brick  Co.,  60  Broad  St.,  Redbank  and  Eatontown, 
N.  J.  Makers  of  “Crescent  Tile”  for  building  fronts  and 
mantels.  Estimates  given  for  special  sizes  and  shapes. 

American  Clay  Products  Company,  175  Fifth  Avenue,  N.  Y. 
and  South  River,  N.  J.  Makers  of  hollow  tile,  conduits  and 
drain  tile,  flue  lining,  wall  coping  and  terra  cotta  fireproofing. 
Annual  production  100,000  tons. 

PIPES  AND  CONDUITS 

Conduits  form  a  special  kind  of  hollow  ware.  They  are 
pipes  or  tubes,  square  or  round,  often  having  several  cross 
partitions,  and  are  used  to  hold  electrical  cables  under  ground. 

Drain  tiles  are  generally  cylinders  made  of  good  building 
brick  clay.  They  may  be  porous,  and  are  usually  unglazed. 
They  are  made  by  forcing  stiff  clay  through  a  die,  as  are 
conduits  and  in  fact  all  hollow  ware. 

Sewer  pipes  are  made  of  any  clay  that  will  vitrify  well. 
They  are  usually  salt  glazed. 

Elbows  and  Y’s  are  made  by  molding  clay  in  plaster  molds, 
or  sometimes  by  fitting  pieces  together,  and  cementing  the 
parts  with  soft  clay  before  burning. 

The  vast  amount  of  pipe  and  wire  laying,  both  in  Northern 
New  Jersey  and  in  the  subway  constructions  in  New  York, 
has  caused  a  great  increase  in  the  manufacture  of  pipes  and 
conduits  in  this  state  during  recent  years. 

G.  W.  Boynton,  Inc.,  Sewaren,  N.  J.  Makers  of  round,  hexa¬ 
gonal,  sole  and  horseshoe  drain  tile,  also  gutters,  collars,  caps, 
outlets,  etc.  Monthly  output  is  500  tons. 

THE  STORY  OF  POTTERY 

The  story  of  pottery  is  best  learned  by  visiting  a  pottery. 
The  Museum  shows  in  a  series  of  cases  the  steps  of  the  pro- 


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New  Jersey  Clay  Products 


cesses  and  every  afternoon  Mr.  Enoch  G.  Bourne,  instructor 
in  the  Trenton  School  of  Industrial  Arts,  exhibits  the  pro¬ 
cesses  of  throwing,  casting,  molding  and  firing. 

The  Cases 

Case  1  contains  the  chief  ingredients  used  in  making  porce¬ 
lain,  each  with  a  label  explaining  its  value.  These  materials 
are :  kaolin,  or  white  clay ;  ball  clay,  or  plastic  clay ;  flint 
pebbles  and  quartz  rock,  the  source  of  silica,  which  melts  more 
easily  than  clay,  and  decreases  shrinkage ;  felspar,  which 
melts  easily  and  on  cooling  binds  the  other  materials  together; 
and  burned  bone,  which  may  be  used  instead  of  the  spar  as  a 
flux. 

Case  2  shows  the  steps  of  the  casting  process.  The  model  is 
made ;  plaster  paris  is  poured  around  it,  and  dries,  thus  form¬ 
ing  a  mold;  into  this  mold  is  poured  clay,  mixed  with  water 
to  the  thickness  of  cream,  called  “slip.”  The  plaster  paris 
absorbs  water  from  that  part  of  the  slip  next  to  the  mold,  so 
that  it  solidifies  to  the  consistence  of  a  thick  mud  pie ;  then  the 
inside  fluid  portion  of  the  slip  is  poured  out,  leaving  the  cast 
object.  The  mold  is  removed,  and  the  object  is  taken  out  and 
dried. 

Case  3  contains  a  vase,  cast  and  fired,  a  vase  glazed,  and 
some  of  the  materials  used  in  glazing.  These  are :  clay,  which 
serves  to  thicken  glazes;  flint,  which  after  melting  hardens 
to  a  glassy  substance;  chalk;  borax;  white  lead  and  zinc. 
There  are  many  other  substances  used  in  glazes. 

The  biscuit,  or  baked  clay,  is  dipped  into  the  fluid  glaze  and 
dried  and  fired. 

Case  4  contains  specimens  of  unbaked,  partly  baked,  and 
fully  baked  clays,  pictures  of  the  kilns  in  which  the  baking 
or  “firing”  is  done,  specimens  of  “trial”  pieces  which  can 
be  removed  from  the  kilns  while  the  firing  is  in  process  to  test 
how  hot  the  fire  is,  and  specimens  of  a  mold,  a  cast  dried, 
and  a  cast  fired  to  show  the  shrinkage  and  the  color  changes 
that  firing  produces. 


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Newark  Museum  Association 


Case  5  contains  several  kinds  of  glazes.  The  object  of  glaz¬ 
ing  is  to  decorate  or  to  render  water  proof.  The  glaze  is  a 
substance  that  spreads  over  the  surface  of  pottery  and,  when 
fired,  becomes  glassy,  or  vitrifies. 

When  the  vitrification  is  not  complete,  the  glaze  is  dull,  or 
“matt.”  A  glaze  that  vitrifies  well  is  glossy.  Occasionally 
the  materials  in  a  glaze  come  together  in  such  exact  propor¬ 
tions  that  crystals  form,  and  the  glaze  is  “  crystalline.  *  ’  Pot¬ 
ters  usually  try  to  prevent  this.  Lustres  are  formed  of  a 
thin  layer  of  finely  divided  metal,  applied  over  the  glaze. 
The  more  brilliant  the  glaze,  the  more  the  lustre  shines.  A 
glaze  that  does  not  shrink  at  the  same  rate  as  the  body  of 
the  ware  either  scales  off  or  cracks,  making  crackled  ware.  A 
glassy  substance  is  sometimes  produced  by  melting  together 
silica  and  an  alkaline  salt  and  this  glass  or  frit,  ground  up 
fine,  is  mixed  into  the  glaze.  This  may  be  done  because  some 
of  the  substances  would  have  dissolved  in  the  water  if  they 
had  not  first  been  united  in  the  frit.  Tin  used  in  a  glaze 
does  not  combine  with  the  other  materials  but  remains  sus¬ 
pended,  and  makes  the  glaze  opaque.  Copper  in  the  glaze 
may  give  a  great  variety  of  colors  according  to  the  amount  of 
oxygen  and  of  other  materials  with  which  it  combines.  Lead 
is  used  both  in  glass  making  and  in  the  making  of  trans¬ 
parent  glazes.  Coloring  matter  may  be  used  either  in  or  over 
a  lead  glaze.  Some  potters  call  a  transparent  glaze  a  glaze 
and  an  opaque  glaze  an  enamel.  There  is  no  fixed  rule  for  the 
use  of  either  term. 

Case  6  shows  several  ways  of  making  pottery.  A  round  ob¬ 
ject,  as  a  vase  or  bowl,  may  be  “thrown,”  by  setting  it  in  the 
middle  of  a  wheel,  shaped  and  turned  like  the  revolving  top 
of  a  piano  stool,  and,  as  the  wheel  turns,  molding  the  clay  with 
the  hands.  Other  objects  are  made  by  coiling  a  long  round 
piece  of  clay  as  coiled  baskets  are  made.  The  coils  stick  to¬ 
gether  and  then  can  be  smoothed  with  the  thumb  so  that  they 
do  not  show  as  ridges.  Objects  can  be  built  of  small  pieces 


New  Jersey  Clay  Products 


11 


of  clay,  stuck  together.  And  a  “bat, ”  or  flat  piece  of  clay 
like  a  pie  crust,  can  be  pressed  into  or  over  a  mold  and 
smoothed  off  to  the  right  thickness,  either  by  the  hands  or  by 
a  shaped  piece  of  wood  called  a  “jigger.” 

Case  7  contains  specimens  of  several  kinds  of  pottery  that 
are  named,  from  the  flower  pot  of  red  earthenware  to  the 
finest  kind  of  porcelain  called  “belleek.”  Pottery  is  divided 
into  earthenware  and  porcelain.  Porcelain  is  semitransparent. 
Earthenware  is  opaque. 

Earthenware :  Red  earthenware,  without  glaze ;  yellow 

ware  made  of  buff-burning  clay  with  a  transparent  glaze; 
Rockingham  ware  of  coarse  clay  with  a  dark  brown  glaze : 
stoneware,  a  coarse  ware  with  a  salt  glaze,  which  is  made  by 
vaporizing  common  salt  in  the  kiln  so  that  it  unites  with  the 
clay  and  forms  a  coating  on  its  surface;  ironstone,  which  is 
of  as  good  material  as  that  in  some  china,  but  not  burned  to 
the  point  of  vitrifying:  “C.  C.”,  or  cream  colored  ware;  and 
majolica,  a  ware  decorated  in  relief  with  soft  colors  mixed 
with  the  glaze.  Under  porcelain  there  are :  bone  china,  and 
belleek,  named  from  the  Irish  village  where  it  was  first  made. 

Case  8  contains  specimens  showing  some  of  the  devices  used 
to  decorate  pottery.  It  may  be  molded  in  a  form  containing 
raised  patterns;  it  can  have  molded  pieces  set  on  its  surface, 
stuck  with  “slip”,  and  the  whole  glazed;  patterns  may  be 
painted  on  in  different  colored  slip,  designs  may  be  trans¬ 
ferred  to  the  biscuit  under  the  glaze  from  printed  paper;  or 
decorations  may  be  similarly  transferred  over  the  glaze,  and 
fixed  in  the  glaze  by  gentle  firing;  or  designs  may  be  etched 
upon  it  by  acids;  and  it  can  be  hand-painted  over  the  glaze 
and  fired. 

TILES— FLOOR  AND  WALL 

Tiles  made  of  burned  clay  are  used  for  flooring  and  for 
wall  covering.  They  are  often  more  durable  than  marble  or 
slate;  they  wear  more  evenly,  and  can  be  made  in  a  greater 
variety  of  colors  and  shapes. 


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Newark  Museum  Association 


In  floor  tiles  of  a  solid  color,  the  tint  extends  through  the  tile 
from  the  face  to  the  back.  In  “encaustic  tile”  the  pattern  or 
face  color  is  only  about  3/16  of  an  inch  thick,  while  the  rest 
of  the  tile  is  made  of  a  different  kind  of  clay. 

Floor  tiles  should  be  burned  to  a  great  density,  in  order  that 
they  may  not  absorb  water  or  admit  dirt  to  their  pores. 

These  tiles  are  molded  out  of  dry,  powdered  clay.  For  uni¬ 
colored  tiles  the  molds  may  be  filled  by  machinery,  but  in 
making  encaustic  tiles,  which  are  of  several  colors,  the  molds 
must  be  filled  by  hand.  A  frame-work  of  brass  strips,  so 
arranged  as  to  mark  the  boundaries  of  each  color  is  first  set 
into  the  mold,  thus  dividing  it  up  into  cells.  Into  each  of 
these  the  color  is  poured  till  every  cell  is  filled  with  the  proper 
color.  The  frame-work  is  then  withdrawn  from  the  mold, 
and  the  latter  filled  up  to  the  top  with  the  clay  that  forms 
the  body  of  the  tile. 

Wall  tiles  differ  from  floor  tiles.  The  body  of  the  tile  is 
made  of  white-burning  clay,  and  is  not  burned  very  hard. 
Wall  tiles  are  used  for  hallways,  bathrooms,  wainscoting, 
mantels,  soda  fountains,  and  other  spaces  needing  easily 
cleaned  decorations.  They  are  generally  glazed,  and  are  often 
decorated  by  raised  and  colored  designs. 

The  relief  is  often  prominent  and  over  it  is  a  heavy  colored 
glaze,  its  differences  in  thickness  producing  different  shades  of 
the  color. 


New  Jersey  Tile  Making 

Only  part  of  the  clays  used  for  making  tiles  in  New  Jersey 
are  mined  in  the  state,  some  being  imported  from  Pennsyl¬ 
vania,  Florida,  North  Carolina,  and  even  from  England.  The 
tiles  are  sold  in  this  country  and  abroad. 

The  C.  Pardee  Works,  Tile  Department,  Perth  Amboy,  N.  J. 
Manufacturers  of  white  glazed  and  dull  finish  wall  tile  and 
ceramics. 

Matawan  Tile  Co.,  35  W.  21st  St.,  New  York,  Matawan  and 
Kevport,  N.  J.  Manufacturers  of  white  vitreous  and  encaus- 


New  Jersey  Clay  Products 


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tic  floor  tile  and  ceramics.  Special  designs  for  floor  spaces  are 
furnished  on  application. 

American  Encaustic  Tiling  Co.,  1123  Broadway,  New  York 
and  Maurer,  N.  J.  Makers  of  sanitary  glazed  and  unglazed 
wall  and  floor  tiles. 

Mueller  Mosaic  Co.,  Trenton,  N.  J.  Makers  of  Faience  mo¬ 
saic  for  bathrooms,  swimming  pools,  mantles,  decorative  signs, 
walls  and  floors.  Made  in  various  styles  and  designs,  Floren¬ 
tine,  Flemish,  Roman,  etc.  Decorative  wall  effects  are  gained 
by  inserts  of  ornamental  tile.  The  company  designs  also  art 
faience  panels. 

New  Jersey  Tile  Co.,  Trenton,  N.  J.  Makers  of  art  tile, 
ceramic  floor  and  white  vitreous  tile. 

Oldbridge  Enameled  Brick  and  Tile  Co.,  Oldbridge,  N.  J. 
Art  tiles,  wall  and  floor  tiles. 

The  Providential  Tile  Co.  is  represented  by  tile  lent  by  E.  H. 
Harrison  &  Bro.,  Newark. 

TERRA  COTTA 

The  term  terra  cotta  means  literally  baked  earth.  It  is 
usually  employed  as  though  it  meant  only  architectural  orna¬ 
ments  made  of  baked  clay.  Yet  Michael  Angelo  made  statues 
of  it;  the  Japanese  use  it  cleverly  painted  as  “imitation 
bronze”  for  busts,  tea  jars  and  bowls,  and  the  ancient  Greek 
children  had  terra  cotta  dolls,  with  movable  legs  fastened  by 
wooden  pegs.  In  the  trade  today  pieces  of  clay  work  for 
architectural  ornament  over  8  inches  square  are  called  terra 
cotta;  under  that  size  they  are  called  ornamental  brick. 

The  little  Tanagra  figures  in  the  statuary  hall  of  this  mu¬ 
seum  are  copies  of  terra  cotta  figures  found  in  old  Grecian 
tombs. 

The  famous  Della  Robbia  ware  of  Italy  was  of  terra  cotta 
covered  with  opaque  enamel,  and  painted.  England  used  it 
much.  From  the  time  of  Henry  VIII  it  was  popular  in  large 
bifildings,  and  since  Queen  Anne’s  day  it  has  been  used  for 
ornamenting  smaller  houses.  For  a  while  it  fell  into  disuse, 
but  since  the  use  of  iron  and  steel  in  buildings  has  come  into 


14 


Newark  Museum  Association 


fashion  good  architects  are  employing  terra  cotta  as  a  more 
honest  material,  and  hence  in  better  taste,  than  galvanized 
iron  sanded  to  simulate  stone.  It  is  common  to  build  the 
lower  stories  of  a  house  of  stone  and  the  upper  stories  of  brick 
with  terra  cotta  decorations. 

Terra  cotta  can  be  produced  in  a  variety  of  colors,  and 
while  rains  leave  stone  surfaces  dingier,  they  brighten  sur¬ 
faces  made  of  the  clay.  It  is  as  durable  as  stone;  it  can  be 
produced  in  more  shades  and  colors;  it  can  be  molded  into  a 
great  variety  of  designs;  it  can  be  given  more  delicate  out¬ 
lines  than  stone ;  it  is  lighter  than  stone. 

The  terra  cotta  clays  of  New  Jersey  are  practically  inex¬ 
haustible.  They  lie  between  Woodbridge,  Perth  Amboy  and 
New  Brunswick  in  beds  occasionally  of  great  depths,  and  are 
of  great  fineness  of  texture  and  plasticity.  A  good  deal  is 
exported  to  other  states. 

Highly  skilled  labor  is  employed  in  the  designing  and  mak¬ 
ing  of  terra  cotta  ornaments.  The  objects  are  formed  either  in 
plaster  molds  or  by  modeling. 

The  clay  is  pushed  into  the  mold  and  spread  over  the  in¬ 
terior  to  a  depth  of  over  an  inch.  Then  it  dries  until  it  has 
shrunk  enough  to  be  loose.  It  is  removed,  trimmed  off,  and 
slowly  dried.  It  is  then  sprayed  with  a  thin  mixture  of  kaolin, 
quartz,  felspar,  coloring  matter  and  water  called  slip,  which 
forms  a  colored  coating  over  its  surface.  It  is  finished  by 
burning. 

New  Jersey  Terra  Cotta  Co.,  Singer  Building,  New  York,  and 
Perth  Amboy,  N.  J.  Makers  of  architectural  terra  cotta. 

Atlantic  Terra  Cotta  Co.,  1170  Broadway,  New  York  and 
Perth  Amboy  and  Rocky  Hill,  N.  J.  Manufacturers  of  archi¬ 
tectural  terra  cotta.  The  Woolworth  Building,  Education 
Building  and  Grill  Room  at  the  Hotel  McAlpin  are  notable 
examples  of  their  work.  The  green  vases  at  the  entrance  of 
the  Public  Library  are  lent  by  this  Company. 

South  Amboy  Terra  Cotta  Co.,  150  Nassau  Street,  New  York 
and  South  Amboy,  N.  J.  Makers  of  architectural  terra  cotta. 


New  Jersey  Clav  Products 


15 


This  company  furnished  the  terra  cotta  used  in  the  Cen¬ 
tral  High,  Normal,  South  Side  High  Schools  of  Newark  and 
many  others.  The  head  of  Whistler,  a  duplicate  of  the  me¬ 
dallion  on  the  Keppel  Building,  New  York  has  been*  given  to 
the  Museum. 

DECORATIVE  WARE  AND  TABLE  WARE 

There  are  several  exhibitions  of  ware  chiefly  decorative  in 
purpose. 

In  all  the  exhibits,  even  those  of  the  most  exclusively  useful 
intention  there  is  inevitably  much  beauty.  So  plastic  a  ma¬ 
terial  as  clay  cannot  but  reflect  the  universal  human  aesthetic 
quality.  But  certain  exhibits  are  of  ware  exclusively  decora¬ 
tive  in  purpose. 

It  is  impossible  to  separate  decorative  ware  from  table  ware 
in  a  catalog,  for  some  firms  make  both,  and,  even  where  the 
purpose  of  manufacturer  purports  to  be  purely  commercial,  the 
tendency  of  the  potter  to  produce  forms  and  tints  that  are 
beautiful  affects  the  results. 

The  Fulper  pottery  shows  both  the  kitchen  and  pantry  ware 
for  the  production  of  which  the  firm  was  established,  and 
specimens  of  those  glazes  of  many  colors  and  lustres  for  which 
it  is  now  famous.  The  Clifton  ware,  in  the  opposite  case  has 
been  lent  by  individuals  or  was  already  possessed  by  the  mu¬ 
seum.  It  consists  of  a  great  variety  of  designs  in  both  shape 
and  decoration  which  the  pottery  used  to  make  but,  owing  to 
a  lack  of  appreciation  in  America  for  American  art  pottery  it 
dropped  for  a  more  remunerative  line  of  clay  products.  Mrs. 
Poillon’s  work  is  distinctly  an  art  product.  The  Lenox  porce¬ 
lain,  both  belleek  and  bone  china,  has  a  quality  of  its  own, 
partly  because  of  the  quality  of  its  body  and  its  glaze,  and 
partly,  perhaps,  because  it  betrays  plainly  the  presence  in  its 
art  department  of  a  sculptor,  able  to  produce  forms  of  subtle 
grace,  of  a  skilled  painter,  and  of  a  man  trained,  as  a  de¬ 
signer  for  goldsmiths’  products,  to  make  intricate  and  deli¬ 
cate  decorative  designs. 


U) 


Newark  Museum  Association 


The  Clifton  Art  Pottery,  Newrark,  was  established  in  1905 
by  Dr.  Tschirner  and  was  run  until  1911.  Crystal  patina  and 
brown  ware  modeled  after  Indian  designs  were  their  spe¬ 
cialties.  The  Pottery  is  now  producing  tile. 

Fulper  Pottery  Co.,  Flemington,  N.  J.  Established  1805. 
Makers  of  art  pottery  and  stone  ware  for  domestic  use. 

Clara  T.  Poillon,  125  E.  70th  St.  New  York  and  Woodbridge, 
N.  J.  Designer  and  maker  of  pottery  for  house,  porch,  gar¬ 
den  or  table  use.  Besides  original  designs,  careful  reproduc¬ 
tions  are  made  of  antique  pottery.  Mrs.  Poillon  also  makes 
her  colors. 

Matthew  Lotz,  Metuchen,  N.  J.,  maker  of  art  pottery. 

Lenox,  Incorporated,  Trenton,  N.  J.  Makers  of  fine  porce¬ 
lain  tableware  and  decorative  china  pieces.  Founded  in  1889. 
Specialties  are  Belleek  ware  and  “bone”  china. 

International  Pottery  Company,  Trenton,  N.  J.  Makers  of 
dinner  and  hotel  tableware. 

Woodbridge  Pottery  Co.,  Woodbridge,  N.  J.  Makers  of 
door  knobs  and  white  stone  ware. 

The  Greemvood  Pottery  Co.  and  the  Mercer  Pottery  Co.  are 
represented  by  tableware  lent  by  L.  Bamberger  &  Co.,  Newark. 

Maddock  Pottery  Co.,  Trenton,  N.  J.  Makers  of  hotel  and 
restaurant  table  ware.  An  instructive  exhibit  showing  pro¬ 
cesses  of  decorating  porcelain. 

Ritger’s  Excelsior  Pottery,  495  Fifth  Street,  Newark,  N.  J. 
Makers  of  fiow7er  pots  in  all  forms  and  garden  pottery. 


REFRACTORIES 

Refractory  clays  are  those  that  can  be  raised  to  a  great 
heat  without  vitrifying  (becoming  glassy)  or  melting  so  as 
to  lose  shape. 

The  use  of  such  clay  to  make  furnace  lining,  fireproof  ware 
(See  Hollowr-ware  on  3rd  floor)  and  fire  brick  is  a  modern  in¬ 
vention. 


New  Jersey  Clay  Products 


17 


Pure  silica  (the  material  of  sand)  mixed  with  clay  makes 
refractories,  but  if  by  chemical  union  with  other  substances 
silicates  are  formed,  they  act  as  fluxes  (See  Story  of  Pottery, 
Case  1). 

Often  “grog”,  made  of  the  rubbish  from  fire-clay  works, 
ground  up,  much  as  “frit”  is  ground  for  glazes  (See  Story  of 
Pottery,  Case  3)  is  used  instead  of  sand. 

Heating  and  covering  different  parts  unevenly  tends  to 
crack.  The  more  porous,  the  less  the  bricks  do  this.  Ashes 
and  gases  often  tend  to  injure  fire  brick  by  chemical  action. 
The  less  porous  the  brick  the  less  this  happens. 

Fire  clay  mortar  is  of  materials  similar  to  those  in  the  brick, 
ground  fine  and  mixed  with  water. 

Gas  logs  are  made  of  clay,  as  that  is  uninjured  by  the  heat  of 
the  flame. 

Straight  and  Richards,  Fabyan  Place,  Newark,  N.  J.  Mak¬ 
ers  of  terra  cotta  specialties  for  the  fireplace,  gas  logs,  grates 
and  stoves  in  various  finishes,  oak,  brick,  driftwood,  etc.  All 
of  the  logs  are  made  by  hand.  Annual  output  about  12,000 
logs. 

M.  D.  Valentine  &  Bro.  Co.,  Woodbridge,  N.  J.  Makers  of 
all  kinds  of  fire-brick,  used  in  locomotives,  boilers,  furnaces, 
grates  and  ovens. 

Didier-March  Company,  Perth  Amboy,  New  Jersey.  Makers 
of  refractory  bricks  of  standard  and  special  sizes.  Annual 
production  is  about  75,000  tons. 

J.  H.  Gautier  &  Co.,  Jersey  City,  N.  J.  Makers  of  firebrick 
and  crucibles  for  foundry  use. 

Star  Porcelain  Co.,  Trenton,  N.  J.  Makers  of  electrical 
porcelain  specialties. 

Cook  Pottery  Company,  50  Church  Street,  New  York  and 
Trenton,  N.  J.  Makers  of  porcelain  parts  for  all  electrical 
purposes.  Special  shapes  made  upon  application.  Annual 
production  is  about  300,000. 


18 


Newark  Museum  Association 


CRUCIBLES 

Crucibles  are  used  for  containing  materials  that  must  be 
melted.  The  crucibles,  therefore,  must  be  made  of  materials 
difficult  to  melt. 

Carbon,  either  found  in  nature,  or  obtained  from  gas  retorts 
is  mixed  with  refractory  clay  to  make  some  crucibles.  The 
material  used  must  resist  chemical  action  by  the  material  to 
be  melted  in  it  so  each  kind  of  metal  is  put  into  a  different 
kind  of  crucible. 

The  beauty,  both  in  shape  and  in  color,  of  the  crucibles 
shown  here  is  an  instance  of  the  fact  that  the  useful  is  often 
the  beautiful. 

Jonathan  Bartley  Crucible  Co.,  Trenton,  N.  J.  Manufactures 
graphite  crucibles  used  in  foundries,  stirrers  and  skimmers, 
stoppers,  nozzles,  etc. 

SANITARY  WARE 

Someone  has  said  that,  so  far,  the  great  contribution  of 
America  to  Art  is  the  pure  white  American  bathroom.  Cer¬ 
tainly  one  of  the  chief  contributions  of  America  to  health  and 
comfort  is  her  sanitary  pottery. 

The  history  of  the  steps  by  which  the  improvements  were 
made  that  substituted  American  for  English  sanitary  pottery, 
even  in  America,  is  full  of  the  interest  that  always  gathers 
about  improvements  to  which  men  of  intelligence  and  zeal  de¬ 
vote  their  lives.  The  Patent  Office  Records  and  the  personal 
anecdotes  of  the  potteries  contain  the  facts. 

At  present  every  housekeeper  can  easily  understand  how 
both  the  tank  and  the  bowl  work,  for  both  have  been  made 
simple  and  effective.  The  lifting  of  a  valve  starts  the  flow 
from  the  tank,  and  the  consequent  sinking  of  a  floating  ball 
lets  new  supply  into  the  tank. 

The  bowl  and  its  connections  are  so  shaped  that  a  body 
of  pure  water  prevents  such  gases  as  may  be  in  the  pipes 
from  passing  up,  and  a  pipe  from  below  this  layer  of  water 
carries  these  gases  out  of  the  house.  When  the  water  from 
the  tank  starts  to  flow  it  starts  an  outflow  that  creates  a 


19 


New  Jersey  Clay  Products 


siphon  action  below  the  bowl,  which  draws  out  the  contents 
of  the  bowl.  And  at  the  same  time  a  part  of  the  water  from 
the  tank  washes  the  sides  of  the  bowl  down. 

Trenton  Potteries  Co.,  Trenton,  N.  J.  Makers  of  sanitary 
pottery  plumbing  fixtures,  both  vitreous  china  ware  and  solid 
porcelain.  The  output  of  these  potteries  is  larger  than  that 
of  any  other  manufacturer  in  the  world. 

Standard  Sanitary  Pottery  Co.,  1122  Elizabeth  Ave.,  Eliza¬ 
beth,  N.  J.  Earthenware  and  china  lavatories  and  tanks. 

Thomas  Maddock’s  Sons  Co.,  Trenton,  New  Jersey.  Makers 
of  sanitary  vitreous  and  “bone”  china  fixtures,  consisting 
of  lavatories,  manicuring  and  dressing  tables,  drinking  foun¬ 
tains,  sinks,  etc. 

Camden  Pottery  Company,  95  William  Street,  N.  Y. ;  1511 
Sansom  St.,  Philadelphia  and  Camden,  N.  J.  Makers  of 
vitreous  china  “Capoco”  sanitary  earthen  ware. 

John  Maddock  and  Sons,  Trenton,  N.  J.  Makers  of  sani¬ 
tary  earthen  ware.  Vitreous  closet  combinations  are  the  spec¬ 
ialties  and  the  annual  production  is  about  100,000. 

USE  OF  CLAY  IN  EDUCATION 

There  are  few  places  in  New  Jersey  where  the  value  of  clay 
as  a  means  of  expression  and  of  experience  in  the  three  dimen¬ 
sions  is  appreciated  to  the  extent  of  using  it  in  the  schools. 

The  fourth  grades  of  the  Montclair  public  schools  teach 
modeling,  incising  and  the  application  of  design  in  clay,  and 
have  a  kiln  in  which  the  objects  made  by  the  children  are 
burned.  The  East  Orange  High  School  Domestic  Arts  De¬ 
partment  uses  clay  as  one  of  thirteen  media  for  the  application 
of  original  design.  The  Kent  Place  School  of  Summit,  a  girls’ 
private  and  preparatory  school  both  models  art  objects  and 
uses  slight  relief  in  conjunction  with  color  for  decorative 
design  and  representation.  The  Perth  Amboy  schools  use  it 
in  several  primary  grades  to  produce  skill,  for  the  application 
of  design,  and  to  train  in  the  realization  of  three  dimensional 
forms. 


20 


Newark  Museum  Association 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  OF  POTTERS 

There  are  two  institutions  in  the  State  that  educate  potters 
as  such. 

At  Rutgers  College  there  is  a  course  in  ceramics  parallel 
to  the  course  in  engineering  which  prepares  young  men  for 
such  positions  as  chemists  and,  ultimately,  as  superintendents 
of  potteries.  The  course  contains  a  certain  amount  of  cultural 
work,  but  consists  chiefly  of  the  pure  and  applied  sciences  that 
underly  the  complex  operations  involved  in  the  potter’s  work. 
It  has  a  complete  equipment,  a  professor,  and  an  instructor 
in  the  experimental  work  of  the  course. 

At  Trenton,  the  School  of  Industrial  Arts,  among  its  various 
domestic  and  industrial  courses,  teaches  both  young  men  and 
young  women  how  to  make  and  how  to  decorate  pottery.  These 
courses  are  largely  patronized  by  those  employed  in  the  potter¬ 
ies  of  the  city  who  desire  to  add  a  theoretical  basis  to  their 
practical  knowledge,  and  to  broaden  that  knowledge  to  include 
all  branches  of  their  craft. 

From  each  of  these  schools  an  instructor  has  contributed  to 
the  exhibition  individual  work  showing  that  the  avocations 
of  his  leisure  hours  are  related  to  but  are  an  expansion  of  his 
vocation. 


Acknowledgment  is  made  to  the  following  firms  for  interest¬ 
ing  exhibits  illustrating  miscellaneous  uses  of  clay : 

L.  Bamberger  &  Co. 

J.  J.  Hockenjos  Co. 

E.  A.  Sayre. 

Rising  &  Thorne 
Roger  Williams. 

Welsbach  Co. 

E.  H.  Harrison  &  Bros. 

Platt  and  Washburn  Refining  Co. 

The  Roessler  and  Hasslacher  Chemical  Co. 

Milton  Bradley  Co. 


